loyal

acquainting

They're drinking to Sakura's upcoming exams when he gets the phone call. He's about to take a sip of his beer when he hears Naruto screaming (they set it to his ringtone and he didn't know how to change it).

Sasuke grumbles, Sakura giggles, and Naruto yells something about bad luck and warm beer when he gets back. Sasuke growls curses under his breath as he walks away from his beer to answer this dumb call.

Huffing in impatience, he sits down on the curb and presses accept. I'm surprised they didn't hang up. It's not like I rushed to answer this call, he thinks as he asks who it is.

"Sasuke-kun?" Oh, Mom.

"Yeah, Mom? What's up?" Sasuke tries to keep the slurs out of his voice, and forces himself to be alert. It's only your second beer, man.

A sudden sob on the other end kills some of the fuzziness in his head immediately. "Mom?"

The sound of the phone switching hands is heard, and Sasuke has woken up a little by now. "What's going on, Dad?"

A heavy sigh filters through the phone. What's happening?! Dad's sighs never sound like this. "Sasuke..." Another sigh. "It's Itachi."

That dumbass. "What did he do this time?" Most of the fuzz returns, since it's just something Itachi did stupidly.

"He died." Sasuke's mind is as clear as glass now, all traces of alcohol gone.

"What?"

"He-"

"You're telling me that fucking bastard of a brother went off and died?" He's so enraged he can barely see the road in front of him. "We were supposed to meet up on--" He stops once he realizes that the day he was going to see his brother was tomorrow. His voice cracks once he finishes his sentence. "I was supposed to go out with him tomorrow."

There's only silence from the other end. "So, how's Mom faring?" Sasuke asks. You can't cry now.

The click of a door closing reaches his ears and he prepares himself for details.

"Your mother... isn't doing so well. She was the one who got the call."

"How did it happen?" Don't cry, don't cry.

"He was trying to protect a cat that had crossed the street at the wrong time. He saw the cat and apparently was too fast for the driver to actually see that it was a human. But that day, Itachi was wearing all black so the driver saw a large black shadow jump out to the middle of the street. So he stopped."

"Itachi didn't die, then?!"

"While the driver and Itachi were trying to coax the cat off the road, an eighteen-wheeler came and hit the car. The driver and Itachi were killed on impact, and the car was totaled."

"What about the cat?" Did I just ask about the cat...? There's a shocked silence from the other end, and then a low chuckle.

"Just like your brother, eh, Sasuke? You're just like your brother." His father isn't talking in a tone that makes Sasuke feel proud; rather, it has the opposite effect.

Sasuke chokes back tears. At least he can't see them over the phone... "Y-yeah."

"The cat's fine. It and the truck driver were the ones who survived." A fist slamming into something makes Sasuke want to tremble. "He got to live..."

Inhaling, Sasuke resumes his questioning. "The cat, Dad. The cat." The sound of paper ruffling, and then the conversation resumes.

"Apparently, the cat was Itachi's. That's probably why he tried so hard to protect it." He sighs again. "My eldest son's life for a mere cat..."